Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight
Author's note: the "you-know-what" I referred to in the last chapters' AN was Rosalie and Bella's big conversation regarding her turning.
Bella raised her eyebrows as Alice led her to the Cullens' massive living room where, to her surprise, Jacob, Leah and the entire family was assembled. Well, the entire family minus Edward, whom everyone except Bella thought was taking time for himself on Isle Esme. Bella alone knew the truth, and as his absence was made obvious in light of everyone else's presence, she felt another twinge of guilt for essentially blackmailing him into spying on Victoria and Laurent. Where was he now?
"I made cookies," Esme said cheerfully, pointing at the plate next to a chair that Alice was now tugging her toward.
"Uh, thanks," she replied, confusion dripping from her voice. What was going on?
Alice practically dumped her into the chair before she herself sauntered over to Jasper and stood by him. Rosalie was sitting on her favorite loveseat by Esme, and on the other side of the room, Emmett and Carlisle stood together. Jacob and Leah were also standing near Carlisle (and it just so happens, right next to an open window).
"Thank you for joining us, Bella," Carlisle smiled before looking to everyone else. "We're here to talk about our current predicament. We have to make a decision about our guests. I spoke with Billy Black on the phone earlier, and I'm afraid what happened last night has created a conflict for the tribe."
"They can't say we broke the treaty!" Emmett said, rolling his eyes. "I mean jeez, we saved one of their own."
"No, the treaty line was not crossed. Bella saw to that. But Mr. Uley thinks the treaty might be void now that we've kidnapped members of his pack."
"What?!" Bella exclaimed. She felt her body hum with rage. The nerve of him!
"Billy and Sue Clearwater are doing what they can to ensure the treaty stays valid. But from their tone...they hinted that we ought to prepare ourselves for a confrontation."
Emmett grinned. "Bring them on! Those canines couldn't handle 2 vamps! They really think they can take us down?!"
Leah's face turned to venom at the insult, but one look from Jacob and she restrained herself.
"They wouldn't try to take you down," Jacob spoke up for the first time. "But if you throw a single punch, if you so much as touch them, then that will break the treaty."
"And if that happens we'll have to leave," Carlisle finished.
Bella stared at Carlisle in disbelief. What the hell were the Cullens thinking when they came up with this agreement?
For a moment, Bella considered what that would mean. A world without the Cullens. The concept felt so alien she had to repeat the words in her mind. A world without the Cullens. Without Rosalie. Without Emmett. Without Esme and Alice, Jasper and Carlisle. That world, in that brief moment her mind ventured there, looked dark and bleak...devoid of life.
She blinked, her heart pounding from the momentary nightmare she just previewed.
"We won't let that happen," said Rosalie, who was watching her from her seat.
"No, we won't," said Jacob. "We need to keep the focus on the nomads. I think if we just keep reminding Sam that we have a common enemy, he'll back off. He lost 3 soldiers last night. Picking a fight with you, or with us, at the same time that they're fighting their attacks is suicide. I'll work on communicating with him, somehow."
"All right," Carlisle nodded. "In the meantime, I understand that it would be best for you not to make your way to the reservation."
Jacob looked down. He nodded.
"You can stay here," Esme immediately said. Ever the gracious host, Bella thought with a smile.
"Thank you," Jacob tilted his head in appreciation. "But I don't think that's the best, ah…"
He was too polite to say it, but Bella knew he was talking about the unsavory logistics of housing vampires and wolves in the same building. Without Bella constantly remembering to separate their scents, neither party could barely hide their disdain. Carlisle remained the only one outwardly unaffected, followed at a close second by Esme.
The answer was obvious.
"You can stay in the cabin," she said, looking at Jacob and Leah. "It's a couple of miles away but still on the property. The bedroom's fine and," she turned to Esme, "maybe you can find another bed or two?"
"What about you, Bells?" Jasper asked.
She shrugged. "Charlie's-"
"No!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Fuck no!"
She stopped, raising an eyebrow at Rosalie, Esme, and Emmett.
"You can stay here, Bells," Emmett added, smiling.
She gulped. Was she ready for this?
"No."
"I'm not ready for that," she added firmly when Rosalie and Emmett looked like they were going to protest. "No."
She waited for them to start a drawn-out argument, but they stayed silent.
Jacob looked at Bella and Esme. "Look, we don't want to intrude. And you've been very kind to us already. We can camp out, take turns guarding the property. We don't need much in our wolf forms."
"Nonsense," Esme shook her head. "We can work something out-something more amenable that that. In the meantime, Bella," she asked, looking at her imploringly. "Would you agree to spending just one night here? I promise I'll come up with a solution by morning."
Bella sighed, but agreed to the compromise.
"Thank you." Esme then turned to her guests. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a family matter to discuss."
Jacob raised an eyebrow in surprise, but left along with Leah. The family waited in silence until the wolves ventured far away enough for privacy. Then they turned to Bella.
"Bella," Esme started. "We have something to discuss with you."
Bella's face was stoic and calm, but inside she felt herself begin to panic. No...they couldn't possibly want to bring this up now?!
"Honey, we're a family," Esme continued. "And over the years, we've faced countless problems. Some trivial. Others life and death. But every single one of them, we've faced as a family. As one unit."
Bella's heart pounded in her chest. Please, god, no. Please.
"We consider you a part of our family. That's why what you did yesterday was wrong."
Bella blinked. What?
Noting her confusion, Esme pushed on. "The right thing to do was talk to us before you decided to go fight vampires on your own."
"We're all very lucky the treaty wasn't breached last night," Carlisle added. "But it was too close for comfort."
"Not to mention we could've helped," Alice piped in. "We can all fight too."
"Or...we could have discussed it and agreed on a wiser course of action," Jasper added.
Esme spoke again. "The point is, decisions that impact the whole family are made by the whole family. Can we expect you to follow this rule the next time you're faced with a crisis?"
She nodded quickly, hoping the relief on her face wasn't too obvious. Though the side of her that was used to complete autonomy felt slighted, a slap on the wrist she could withstand. Their reasoning was sound after all. She had acted brashly. Things could've plummeted south if she had lost her concentration for just a second and Rosalie came tumbling down on the wrong side of the treaty line. Wolves other than Jacob and Leah could've shown up. So much...so much could've been lost last night.
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
Esme nodded, then smiled at her daughter. "All right then. Let's see about accommodations for our guests."
A few days later, Bella was just about done with a novel she had brought back from the library when she heard rustling in the leaves below.
"Bella?"
From her perch on her cabin's roof, she saw Jacob walk out from the thick woods and into the clearing in her line of sight.
She held her breath warily.
He paused. "Leah wants to go into town. She's getting antsy and she needs to buy a few things anyway. Um, any chance you'd consider going with her?"
She gave him a questioning look.
"I'm worried the other pack will take advantage. If they see her, they'll goad her I know it. And...she doesn't have the best hold on her temper."
Yeah, no shit. Still. "Why don't you go with her?"
He blushed. "Um, she wants to get things of...a feminine nature."
Bella rolled her eyes. Boys.
"All right."
"Thank you."
And just like that, he was gone again. This was a pattern all week. A hello here and there. How are you. How did you sleep? Pass the butter. They exchanged no more than a hundred words at any given time, and after every exchange Jacob found a reason to leave her presence. Bella didn't know what to make of it. Except...at least he was talking to her.
Leah on the other hand...Bella sighed heavily as she trudged through the forest. This ought to be fun.
"Hello!"
She called out a few times. She did not want to surprise the irritable she-wolf.
"What?" Leah, as always, was annoyed with her. She came out of the gigantic RV she, Seth and Jacob currently shared. Esme's temporary solution for their temporary guests: purchase a luxury RV worth more than what half the houses in Forks were worth. The garish thing made her eyes burn but hey, it had everything the trio needed from private (albeit small) bedrooms to a fully stocked kitchen.
"I'm going into town for a few things. Wanna come along?"
Leah narrowed her eyes. "Did Jake-"
"Yup. And I'm leaving in 10 minutes with or without you."
Bella quickly turned and ran, with a little help from the wind, to the house to let the family know. Rosalie, of course, wanted to come. She didn't trust Leah (which was fine as the feeling was more than mutual). Bella quickly tried to convince her that there was no way the two of them could handle close proximity without drawing blood...but Rosalie won in the end. Soon she and Bella were waiting in the old truck, counting down the minutes to the 10-minute mark.
3 - 2 - 1 -
The door opened and slammed shut again. Leah crossed her arms wordlessly in her seat, simultaneously giving Rosalie a death glare which Rosalie happily returned.
"Buckle up," Bella said after turning the ignition key. This was going to be a long, long morning.
Bella lazily rummaged through the clearance bin while she waited for Leah to finish in the dressing room.
"Can you try to be more civil?" She asked in a hushed tone.
Rosalie put up her hands in mock indignation. "I haven't said a word!"
Bella gave her a look as if to say who do you think you're fooling? "I dare you to dial it down to neutral for the rest of the morning."
The blonde rolled her eyes, but immediately blocked her face with a hand which, when she removed it again, revealed her standard cool, slightly annoyed, but thankfully less rageful expression.
"Ugh...look who's here."
Bella turned around. Ugh, indeed.
Jessica, Lauren, and Mike were outside walking across the street. Mike was pressed rather closely to Jessica, Bella noted. Guess those two finally hooked up. Jessica must be thrilled.
To her chagrin, her three least favorite people crossed the street and entered their shop.
Mike was the first to see her, and he immediately lit up, poking Jessica sloppily in her side.
"Rose, don't-"
But Rosalie already did. Her angry face was back with a vengeance, and she made sure all three of them saw it, and that it was directed at them.
The sight of those kids who made her school life miserable last year made her heart fall into the pit of her stomach. No matter how much she told herself none of them mattered...that three petulant bullies were and should be the least of her problems, Bella always felt like she was eight years old again in their presence. Despite everything she knew, everything she'd learned and seen in her unique life, despite vampires and shape-shifters and powers, those three kids could overwhelm her defenses with one look. Bella's rational side knew it was ludicrous, but that's exactly how she felt no matter how brave a face she put on.
But when she glanced back at Rosalie, some of the poison running through her veins instantly left her body and she could breathe again. Her girlfriend looked like a panther about to pounce, and she couldn't help but chuckle at the deer in headlights expressions on the others' faces. They still had not worked up the courage to be assholes in front of Rosalie and probably never would.
Bella's smile grew on her face as she watched Rosalie, and she felt her affection for her grow until it completely overshadowed the fears and discomfort that had overpowered her only seconds ago. And then she did something without thinking, something she had not planned on nor expected she'd do today.
In full view of everyone in the store, including Mike, Jessica and Lauren, she reached up, cupped her face in her hands, and gave Rosalie a deep and obviously intimate kiss on the lips.
Fully aware of the gaping looks around them, she steered a surprised Rosalie closer to the dressing rooms to wait for Leah.
"You realize what you just did?" Rosalie asked, stunned.
Bella shrugged, sighing. "I don't care anymore."
Despite the thundering in her heart-she had just, after all, seismically altered her world-she felt better. She felt liberated, which was weird because until this point she hadn't realized how caged and heavy the omission of her relationship had made her feel before. Days had come and gone during which Jacob and Leah knew everything about her complicated relationship and the world hasn't ended. The world was not going to go up in flames now that a few more people were in on it. Besides, this relationship didn't define her. There was more to Bella Swan than being "Rosalie's girl"...there was more to Bella Swan than even Rosalie knew…
Even without her gift, Bella felt she was floating off the ground. She had never felt so weightless in her life.
"It's going to get a lot harder for you when school starts," Rosalie murmured. Guilt was written all over her face even though it was Bella, not her, who tossed their cat out of the bag.
"It's only one year," Bella shrugged. "But hey, Alice has been offering to break into the school and fudge with next year's class schedules. Maybe I'll just give her the green light on that."
Rosalie raised an eyebrow.
"...and maybe we don't tell Esme and Carlisle that we're planning on breaking and entering?"
Leah stepped out of her dressing room with a dramatic swish of the curtain and glared at them, mostly at Rosalie, before she stomped her way to the cash register.
"Babe, let it go." But even as the words came out of her mouth, Bella felt a stirring of anger deep inside her. She was getting tired of being judged. And she was especially getting tired of how little that girl thought of Rosalie.
Author's note: Next chapter is halfway written already. Won't you please leave me lots of reviews to help motivate me to finish it asap? Pretty please?